An emergency water restriction ordinance was activated by Rockford Village Administrator Jeff Long on this morning prohibiting residents from watering their lawns.

Long said all residents are to refrain from watering their lawns until further notice. However, they may continue to water flowers and wash cars.

"We're not going to restrict that at this time," Long said.

Long said because many Rockford residents have been continually watering their lawns, the village water plant is unable to keep up with demand.

"It's really high and it has been," Long said about water usage. "It's increased to where we can't keep up (with) everyone watering their yards."

Long said the plant usually maintains 54 pounds of pressure every day; but with the overwhelming use increase of water, pressure has decreased to 48 pounds of pressure, even with the plant running at top capacity around the clock.

The village wells, Long pointed out, are not running low. Village residents are simply using more water than the plant can produce.

"We are using more water than we can produce," he said. "We need to slow it down."

Long said he hopes the restriction of watering lawns should help the water plant catch up.

The village has used the ordinance in the past to control water usage during times of high demand. In those cases, watering lawns was also cited as the culprit and the restrictions have usually been lifted within a couple of days.